Notbroken
by SplishySplash
Summary: Gamora runs into someone from her past and it stirs up bad memories. Peter reaches out to Nebula for help to help her overcome the darkness. CW: Mentions past, non graphic, sexual abuse


He had lost sight of her for half a second.

They were fighting known Thanos supporters that had raided a Spartaxian outpost on Korvalis V. It was a bold move, being so close to Spartax and the Guardians were closer.

They barely had the upper hand when Nova Corps arrived and he scanned the ruins for his team. Rocket was taking out some low level thugs, who were looting with Groot on his shoulder. Drax was doing his thing and Mantis was helping move scared Spartaxian villagers to safety. Kraglin was keeping up on taking out his own set of thugs while trying to help Mantis, but he couldn't see Gamora.

Not that he was worried about her, she could take care of herself, but he still worried.

As he shot three more attackers, he heard something weird in his communicator-it was like a strangled gasp, so soft that he nearly missed it. "What was that?" He asked looking around for his crew again.

Rocket looked just as perplexed as he did. "I don't know, could be someone hacking our frequency." He commented.

Something didn't feel right about that, the gasp sounded like Gamora. "Where is Gamora?" He asked.

He got shrugs from everybody but little Groot. "I am Groot." He said pointing in the direction he had seen her leave in.

"Thanks buddy." Peter said and trotted off in that direction.

There was a trail of bodies, congruent with Gamora kicking ass. There were families trying to gather each other up all looking a little relieved. "Have you seen a woman, extremely beautiful and green skin, about yay high, wearing black?" He asked a group of them, his hand at Gamora height.

"She's around the corner." Said an old woman with a crooked finger. "I think she was out numbered, but I don't think that would be a problem."

Peter nodded his thanks and trotted a little further down the road. When he glanced down an alleyway, his heart literally stopped beating. There were a path of bodies that littered the road and two people who were very much alive at the end. There was a very large man, Kree obviously, broad shoulders and bald head, he had Gamora pressed to the wall with his face dangerously close to hers whispering something to her, one arm was on her airway and covering her mouth with his large hand. She was covered in blood, it dripped down her face and her arms from what he could see and he couldn't tell who the majority of it belonged to. Her clothes were torn, green skin contrasted the black.

His other hand was on her waist with his fingers tucked under the waistband of her pants.

When Gamora opened her eyes, Peter could see fear and knew that she was powerless against this asshole, whose hand cupped her breast and gave it a squeeze. Peter took a shot, not asking questions or waiting for things to play out, he didn't even call out to give Gamora a chance to take out the man. He knew immediately what this man wanted to do to her and he wasn't about to let that happen.

Peter reacted, shooting him right in the chest. The large Kree man stood there for a moment confused, before falling to his knees and falling to the side. Peter put another hole into his head for good measure before trotting over to her before her legs gave out, her eyes rolled back into her head as she lost consciousness.

"Gamora!" He cried as he scooped her up into his arms. "Come on, wake up!"

She was unresponsive and cold but her breathing was shallow, he reacted and took off down the alleyway back to the Milano.

The streets were filled with disheveled people, already starting to build themselves back up when the woman who pointed him after Gamora spotted him. "Come! Lay her here, let us heal her!" She said and Peter nodded, following the woman into her house. "Lay her on the couch, I will fetch the doctor."

He did as he was asked and a wet cloth found its way into his hand. He started with her face, the scar on her cheek had been opened, as well as a cut at her hairline that would probably be a new silver scar on her beautiful face.

A bowl found its way next to him and he went on to the rest of the cuts that had seemed to be slowing down. She had cuts down her arms that already seemed to be healing themselves, he thanked every god out there for her regenerative healing.

The gash at her side was deep and still bleeding, he put pressure to stifle it when the woman returned with a man and a woman carrying medical kits. "This is Doctor Finn and Doctor Farraday." She introduced and took a step back to allow them the space to work.

Peter took a step back for them to work.

It didn't take long for Gamora to come to and before Peter could blink, she had the male doctor by the throat, knocking all the medical supplies onto the floor.

"Gamora! Hey it's okay, they are trying to help you." Peter reacted placing a hand on her wrist, and when she turned to look at him, she looked feral. She let go of her grip on the Doctor and turned her bruising grip to his wrist. "It's me, Peter. You're safe, Gamora."

It took a few seconds for her brain to catch up with her body and for her to release her grip as if his skin was on fire. There was pure panic in her eyes as she scanned the room for signs of danger. "Norrath?" She wheezed.

Peter looked her over, she was looking for the man who attacked her. "He's dead." Peter assured, he could feel her anxiety bubble to the surface. "I shot him."

She shot up to her feet. "We have to get off this planet, Peter." She pleaded in panic, there was something in her voice that Peter couldn't tell her no. He had never seen her like this before.

"Okay, don't you want to have these nice doctors stitch you up first?" He asked, putting his hands out to catch her if she swayed. She shook her head as she took her first unsteady step, Peter caught her gently, but not without her flinching. "Thank you for your help."

The old lady nodded, only slightly offended, but didn't notice Gamora lifting a cloak off the chair as they left her house. "Gamora, what is going on?" He asked once outside, she put the cloak on and placed the hood over her head.

"When he finds out that Norrath is dead. . ." She said and winced in pain.

"What are you talking about?" He tried to pry as he kept a protective distance away from her.

Gamora didn't even dignify that with an answer. "Let Nova Corps finish with this." She insisted as they reached the square, it was mostly quiet now-all the thugs either captured or dead. She stopped and turned around to face him, she looked terrified. "Peter, we have to get off this planet. Please." There was something in her voice and he couldn't deny her anything.

"Okay." He said, reaching out for her only for her to pull her arm away in recoil, something that she had never done before-she always welcomed his small touches. "Let's get out of here." He tried to keep the hurt from his voice, but he understood she had just been through something traumatic and needed some time to process it. He pressed his communicator on. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

Not fifteen minutes later, they stood in the cramped bay of the Milano. Rocket and Kraglin took piloting duties leaving the others in the common area. Gamora looked like she was going to pass out at any minute, be it from shock or blood loss he wasn't sure. "Are you okay?" Peter asked her quietly, to not draw attention to her.

She was trembling under the cloak. "I'm fine." She answered.

"Will you let me look at your side?" He asked, reaching out to brush the cloak away from her to see her wound. "I think you are going to need stitches."

She slapped his hand away roughly. "I'm fine." She snapped. "I'm going to take a shower." She disappeared.

Mantis looked absolutely nauseous, Peter placed a comforting hand on her arm. "She's really upset." She said softly and he nodded. Taking a seat at the table, rested his head in my hands.

"She was pretty freaked out about leaving." Peter said to Drax as he looked up, who placed a mug of something in front of him. "I'm pretty sure she knew who the leader was."

Drax nodded. "That group may be Thanos sympathizers." Drax said.

His stomach dropped, if the group fought on behalf of Thanos, then Gamora definitely knew who he was. The way he was whispering to her looked as if he had knows who she was as well and if Norrath was the leader of the group, Thanos would want to take out who brought down this man. But it felt way more personal than that. Peter jumped to his feet. "I'm going to go make a call, will you go up to the bridge and tell them to keep their eyes spotted for anything suspicious." He asked Drax, who only nodded.

Peter disappeared to the cargo bay, for privacy, he didn't want Gamora to overhear his conversation when she was in a sensitive state.

When her familiar blue face filled the screen, she looked annoyed. Then again, Nebula always looked annoyed. "Quill." She greeted in her deadpanned voice.

He took a deep breath. "Hey Nebula." He said, trying to not sound absolutely terrified of the woman.

"To what do I owe this honor?" She asked, flipping a couple of switches to turn her ship to autopilot. Peter was silent for a moment, trying to gather his words wisely. Nebula was always one to get pissed off rather quickly before they could get answers from her. "I take it that it has something to do with my sister?"

His shoulders sagged. "Do you know who Norrath is?"

Her look turned dark, something in her machinery sparked and the feeling in Peter's stomach sunk. "He is Thanos' first and favorite son." Nebula said after trying to find the right words to describe him. Peter suddenly felt sick to his stomach. "He wasn't kidnapped from his home planet, he voluntarily joined Thanos. He is one sick sonofabitch."

And that was Nebula saying that.

"And Gamora. . .?" Peter couldn't even finish the question, he felt nauseous. His panic level went up two notches and he took a deep breath to calm himself. It was no use panicking before he had all the information.

Nebula looked away and it made Peter's stomach drop. "This isn't my story to tell."

Peter hissed out a breath. "Please, Gamora needs my help and I need to understand what is going on in her head."

Nebula's face softened, contrary to popular belief Gamora was a soft spot for Nebula. "She was betrothed to him." She answered, Peter had to sit down on a crate to keep himself from falling. "He used to force himself on her, use her for whatever disgusting fantasy he had and if she fought back, she would be killed."

Peter doubled over, nearly dropping the tablet as it had gotten harder to breathe. Thanos was going to force her to marry that monster. "She was young, twelve or thirteen maybe." Nebula added, it twisted the knife in his stomach. "Thanos' goal was to breed her, because their offspring would be unstoppable. She was the only one of us that hadn't had that body modification."

His heart seemed to be racing. "Thanos' only rule was that he couldn't get her pregnant until they were married, the old romantic." She sneered, the sound of hatred dripped in her voice and she closed her eyes as if she could hear Gamora's screams again. "Their wedding was supposed to happen after everything with the Accuser, but Gamora defected. I would assume Norrath has been searching the galaxy for her. He never was the best tracker."

He ran a hand through his light curls. "She has never mentioned any of this." He sighed, he felt awful that he didn't know anything about the torture she endured from this asshole. She spoke sometimes of the stuff that Thanos' did to her, but it was cake compared to years of sexual abuse. "I had no idea. . ." It was why she sometimes flinched when he touched her gently, or why she forced her fist closed when they were in crowds.

Nebula gave him a sad look. "It's not something that she likes to relive." Nebula answered. "It's not something I want to remember either." She got quiet for a moment, Peter could swear that a tear escaped her eye, not that he knew if she could cry. "Thanos made us all watch the first time as his guards held her down to prove that it was actually her first time. . ."

Peter dropped the tablet and ran over to a bucket in the corner, emptying the contents of his stomach into it. He wiped his mouth and slowly walked back towards the boxes he had sat on and picked up the tablet to a patient looking Nebula. "When I find him, I am going to tear his skin off piece by piece and then choke him with his intestines." She announced.

His shoulders drooped. "I killed him." He said, but her way was better. He wanted him to suffer, just like he did to Gamora. Nebula looked almost pleased. "I came down the alley, he had his hands on her and there was blood everywhere, I shot him."

"Good." Nebula said folding her arms.

Peter looked absolutely helpless. "What do I do?" He asked and Nebula raised her brow ridge. "How do I help her? She looked so broken. . ."

"She's not broken, she hasn't been broken since she met you." Nebula looked away and took a heavy breath.

He bit his lip, it nearly broke him.

"Just do what you always do, Quill." She answered, her tone was soft and not something he would expect to come from her. "You take care of her." Oddly cryptic, coming from Nebula.

He sighed heavily, at a loss for what to do. "I …."

"Listen Quill, I'm only going to say this once." She said firmly, her long skinny finger pointed in his direction. "For some reason, my sister likes you. I still don't know why she hasn't cut your head off yet, because I would have done it a long time might not seem like it right now, but she trusts you with her life. But for what it's worth, if there is anybody in this entire godforsaken universe who I trust to take care of her, it's you Peter Quill. "

That was the nicest thing that anybody had ever said to him. "Thanks Nebula." He said, feeling a little better at approaching Gamora.

She nodded. "Take care of her, Peter." She said. "Or I will kill you myself."

He chuckled as he disconnected the call, he took a deep breath to stabilize himself. It wasn't going to be easy to scale the walls that she rebuilt around her, but she was worth it. He got up and went back to the common room on the Milano, where Mantis and Drax sat at the table.

A steady stream of tears flowed down Mantis' cheeks. "She is in so much pain." Mantis cried, Drax's large hand rested on her back trying to sooth her.

Peter nodded. "I know." He answered with a heavy sigh. "I'll take care of her."

"She may act like she doesn't want you there, but deep inside she knows you are the only one she wants with her." Mantis said quietly, normally he would chide her for reading emotions without permission, but now it was reassuring as he took the steps towards the bathroom. He could hear the water still running and he took a deep breath before he knocked softly on the door.

Silence.

"Gamora?" He asked through the door. "Gamora, can I come in?"

Still silence.

Another deep breath before he turned the handle and stepped inside.

It crushed him to see her like this, curled up on the floor in the shower, shoulder shaking under soft sobs. He crossed the threshold in two large steps, pulling the door open and turning off the water that had turned ice cold. He said nothing as he reached for the towel off the rack and placed it over her, very carefully wrapping it around her small frame, helping her into a seated position. "Hey, it's me." He said softly, unsure just how much she was processing things at the moment. She didn't tense at his touch, probably because she was numb. "It's Peter. I'm going to lift you up, okay?"

She didn't respond to him. It was even worse when she didn't react when he scooped her up into his arms, her wet hair soaking through his shirt-it caused him to shiver because it was ice cold. As he entered the hallway, he looked back at the common area and found it vacated-Mantis and Drax giving them privacy.

He took her into his bedroom, knowing that he had all the medical supplies should she need it. Peter sat her on the bed, keeping a hand on her as he reached for another towel from the back of his chair. He had to dry her hair because the cold ship air would make her sick, or at least he thought it would. Carefully he squeezed out the water in her hair, he'd brush it later, probably braid it too.

She was quiet, too quiet. The sobbing had subsided the second he turned the water off. Peter kneeled down to look her in the eyes before he spoke. "I'm going to help you dry off and get you into warm clothes." He said and she blinked slowly.

A slow blink.

He was going to take that chance, he reached for one of his clean shirts and fed her head through the right hole before gently shoving her arms inside the sleeves. She was being surprisingly compliant.

As he put reached for a pair of boxer shorts and slid them up her legs, his fingers innocently brushed up her thigh and her skin erupted in goosebumps. She reacted, her bare leg landed squarely on his chest throwing him into the drawers a meter back. "Ooof!" He wheezed, she blinked a couple of times before the panic filled her face again.

Peter pushed himself up to a seated position. "Hey, it's okay! I'm sorry, I wasn't . . ." He started, as he got up, it hurt.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry. . ." She pushed herself back on the bed, scooting towards the headboard, burying her face into her knees.

He sat next to her on the bed. "Gamora." He soothed softly.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…." She cried before her shoulders started to shake around her knees.

"I'm okay." He said, he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her, but he didn't want to upset her even further. He hated seeing her tremble like this and he hated Norrath for putting this fear in her. "I've got a pretty hard head." Hoping to get a reaction out of her, he failed.

She didn't move, her soft heavy breaths filled the room and he was at a loss of what to do for her. He took a deep breath before he chose his words wisely. "I know what that bastard did to you when you were a child." He said, his voice quiet and somber. She tensed as if he had dug a knife into her side and a soft cry escaped her lips. "And I know he had every intention of hurting you again before I showed up."

Her shoulders stilled. "I called Nebula, I wanted to know who this sonofabitch was. The look on your face when I came around the corner. . . you had to have known who he was." He couldn't get the look of sure terror and helplessness on her face. She was powerless against him.

She hissed in a gasp, still trembling next to him. He suddenly felt bad for invading her privacy, but he wasn't going to apologize for it. "I just wanted to know how to help you."

Her hands clenched into a fist, open and closed a couple of times and Peter prepared himself to be beat to a bloody pulp. If it made her feel better, then it would be worth it. But she didn't move, her hands smoothing out on her bare legs. She took a couple of deep breaths, her shoulders rising and falling with each one. "I recognized his symbol when we got off the ship." She whispered, so softly that he nearly missed it.

Peter's heart hurt. She knew that he was there and didn't say anything, nothing seemed out of the ordinary when they got off the ship. "They lured me down the alleyway, I knew it was a trap." She whispered and he tried to bite back any anger because she hadn't mentioned anything about knowing him. "He kills children, Peter. He slaughters them for fun while their parents have to watch, I had to be quick. . . I had to distract him while you guys dealt with the rest."

He hissed out the breath that he was holding. He wanted to reach out for her, pull her into his chest and block out all the evil from the universe, but he stayed put. "I got to the end of the alley and he had a child in his hands. . . I told him to take me instead, that I was the one he wanted. I . . ." She continued, she used herself as a sacrifice to save the child. In the blink of an eye she jumped up from the bed and trotted into the bathroom with Peter on her heels as she threw up in the toilet.

Peter held her hair back with one hand and the other rubbing soft circles on her back, automatically. He spoke softly to soothe her until her dry heaves stopped, when she finished her tucked herself into Peter's embrace, her face buried into his collarbone as he maneuvered them into a sitting position on the floor of the bathroom and he wrapped his arms tightly around her as she started to sob again.

He did his best to still her shaking shoulders. "I had to tell him that I was sorry for running away, for ruining our wedding-in order for him to let the child go." She cried. "He believed me and he actually let the child go and I had. . . he said he forgave me and then he pushed me up against the wall, he said missed me as he. . ." Her grip on his shirt tightened as she tried to suppress the of his body against hers.

Peter pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "You saved that child's life at the expense of opening old wounds, Gamora. You are the hero here." He whispered softly. "You didn't deserve what this asshole did to you."

Her sobs came out harder. Years of trauma followed by years of hiding came out with each shudder of her shoulders and Peter held on tightly, riding the turbulent waves that coursed through her body. "I'm so sorry." He whispered into her ear.

It took what felt like eternity for her to calm down enough that her shoulders stopped shaking, her face buried into his chest and hiding from the world. Her breathing slowed and Peter assumed that she had fallen asleep against him. "If you ever want to talk about it, I am here for you." He said to her still form. "Whenever you're ready

"I don't ever want to remember it." She whispered softly, her voice hoarse from crying. He tightened his grip around her. "Each time, he took a little piece of me with him. . ." There was a soft hiccup. "And I finally felt that I had gotten it all back. . ." A small sniffle escaped her. "I was so. . ." She couldn't find the words she was looking for.

"I know." He whispered, his lips against her head. "I know you were scared, I was scared too. I . . . Jesus Christ Gamora, when I saw you and him. . ." He was swept up in the wave of emotions that he had to stop before he started to cry. "I just wish I could've. . ."

She turned her head and pressed a soft kiss to his jaw to still him. "Thank you." She said in a whisper, before tucking herself under his chin her ear resting against his chest and the steady hum of his heart calming her. "For killing him."'

"You're welcome." He answered softly. He smiled as he brushed his nose against hers, he was being cautious with his touch in fear of setting her off again. He moved his hand to cup her cheek, a tear escaped his eye, which she caught with her hand. "I'm sorry that this happened to you." He said, his own voice hoarse, she hummed in response but didn't speak. "I won't let it happen again." A whisper.

They fell into silence, he was sure that she had succumbed to her exhaustion until she shivered against him. Her hair was still wet and she still only wear a shirt, he was sure that she she was uncomfortable. "Come on." He said with his lips against her head. He helped her up and kept a hand on her as he got up from the floor.

"I need to brush my teeth." She whispered and he nodded, pulling out a spare brush from the cabinet. He left her there alone for a moment, so that he could turn down the bed for her to climb into-the thought of her going to her own bed was never an option. He picked up the boxer shorts that had ended up on the floor when she threw him across the room and exchanged them for a pair of sweatpants, to keep her legs warm.

He heard her shuffle in behind him and he turned to face her. She looked a little more human this time. He handed her the pants, watching as she slid them on her legs, they were too long for her and pooled at her ankles and she had to roll down the waistband a couple of times to keep them on her waist. She took a couple of steps and stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Peter." She whispered.

He gave her a softer version of his crooked smile. "You're welcome." He said, his hand moving to her cheek. "Come on, off to bed."

Gamora obeyed, crawling into bed. Peter, covered her up with the blanket and a sudden panic filled Gamora. "Please stay." She pleaded and Peter nodded, stripping down to just his undershirt and boxer shorts, he crawled into bed with her and she curled into him, not flinching when he moved to wrap an arm around her.

There was a soft sigh and soon her eyes fluttered closed.

Peter soon let his mind slow down enough to doze off.

/

He wasn't sure how long he had dozed off for, when he heard Rocket's little footsteps outside in the hall. His door opened with a soft creak and soon he was standing next to Peter. "You awake, Pete?" He asked softly.

Peter blinked a couple of times and looked down at Gamora, whose nose was buried into his chest. "Yeah, what's up?" He asked lifting his head to look at him.

Rocket handed him the datapad. "Nebula insisted on speaking with you." He said, sounding exasperated. "She said that she would fly across the friggin universe to turn me into a handbag if I didn't find you or your body."

"Thanks buddy." He said, turning the screen to see Nebula's face on the other side. He held the tablet in such a way that she could see Gamora sleeping at his side. "Hey Nebula."

"I see that you must have done something right, you are still breathing." She greeted, he could see the careful look of relief on her face.

He smirked. "You have little faith in me."

"You're point?" Nebula shrugged. "Is she doing okay?" Nebula asked, it was a question that sounded so unfamiliar coming from her lips.

"She's doing as well as can be expected." He answered looking at her fondly, running a hand up and down her arm to sooth her as she tensed against him from nightmares, soon she settled. "Not great, but she's okay."

"Good." Nebula answered before she looked away for a moment. "Thank you for taking care of her."

Peter looked down at the sleeping form against him as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head to hide the flush in his cheeks, it was high praise coming from her. He looked up at the screen again. "We'll get through this."

"Or die trying." Nebula added, a small smirk filling her lips.

"Or die trying." He repeated with a soft chuckle. "Thank you for your help earlier."

Nebula sat a little straighter and nodded. "You are an honorable man, Peter Quill. Keep it that way or I will fly across the universe and. . ." Peter raised his eyebrow expectantly. "Use your imagination, I don't care."

It was the second time that someone had called him honorable, the woman in his arms the first and her sister-who by all definition was the bad guy, the second. It felt nice to know that she had held him in such high regards to take care of Gamora. "Kind of lazy. . ." He teased and she rolled her eyes, status quo returned.

"Goodnight Peter." She said before disconnecting the phone.

He rolled his eyes and handed the datapad back to Rocket. "And goodnight." He mumbled to himself. "Thanks Rocket."

Rocket nodded, he didn't actually know what was going on but he respected them enough to not ask questions. "Yeah, yeah. I don't fancy being turned into a bag." He answered.

"Not really your style?" Peter asked with a soft laugh.

"Naaa. Alive and breathing is more my style." He said before sobering up. "She okay?"

Peter looked down at her again. "She will be." Peter answered, Rocket nodded and excused himself with the door swooshing down behind him.

Silence filled the room once again, save for Peter pulling up the blanket around her and a soft hum as he made himself comfortable. "Should I be worried about you conspiring with my sister?" Gamora mumbled, her eyes still closed.

If Peter and Nebula had one thing in common, it would be their love for this woman-who was taken from her home and raised to do awful things, she was betrothed to a madman who took away her innocence, and yet now strived to be the good in the universe.

He pressed another kiss to the top of her head and rubbed her arm, pulling her as close to him as possible. "We are just two people who will go to the ends of the universe for the same person." He said, his lips not leaving her head. Gamora nuzzled her nose into his chest, he could see the dark flush rise on her cheeks.

Silence surrounded them again. "She likes you." Gamora said breaking the silence, he looked down at her as she gave a weak crooked smile. "Don't tell her I say that."

He chuckled, leaning down to press a soft kiss between her brows. "She's still terrifying," He whispered. "But don't tell her I like her too."


End file.
